Friday, October 16, 2015

A vehicle containing U.S. personnel "destroyed potential evidence" on Thursday by forcing its way onto the ruined site of a hospital bombed by American forces in Afghanistan, the charity said.

Doctors Without Borders, which ran the facility in Kunduz, initially said the vehicle was a "U.S. tank," although U.S. military officials in Kabul and the Pentagon later denied this.

"We don't even have tanks there," one official pointed out.

The charity, which is also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said in an emailed statement to NBC News that it had been informed the tank contained a delegation from a "U.S./NATO/Afghan investigation team" looking into the incident. It did not say who provided that information.

The charity said the vehicle's "unannounced and forced entry" through the gates had also frightened staff and damaged property.

Three military officials confirmed to NBC News that an investigative team traveled to the site, but none could say for sure what type of vehicle was used...

The vehicle forced its way through the closed main gate of the bombed-out compound at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday (5 a.m. ET), according to the charity. MSF has since pulled out of the derelict site, but said one of its teams arrived earlier on Thursday to visit the crumbling building.

It said the "intrusion" contravened an agreement between MSF and the joint investigation team that the charity would be "given notice before each step of the procedure involving the organization's personnel and assets."